


This lost feeling (is not so bad)

by crayyyonn



Series: Honey, I turned the kids into animals [3]
Category: Day6 (Band), GOT7
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 23:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11195994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayyyonn/pseuds/crayyyonn
Summary: When Younghyun is suddenly turned into a kitten, Jaebum is tasked with taking care of him.





	This lost feeling (is not so bad)

**Author's Note:**

> ever since brian put on cat ears for everyjune6 i begged the gods every day for a kitty!brian fic but none was forthcoming so i had to write the damn thing myself
> 
> fyi brian is forever brian to me but it's jaebum's pov and he calls him younghyun (i'm assuming) so brian is younghyun 90% of this fic (just not youngk never youngk)
> 
> god this is so dumb i'm sorry

In retrospect, Jaebum’s life would be a lot less complicated if he hadn’t been the one to answer the door the day Jaehyung shows up with the kitten.

“It’s supposed to reverse in three days,” he explains. “At least that’s what the book said. Thank God too, we’ve got a show this weekend.” There’s a wild look in his eyes. “Please don’t tell Sungjin. He’ll actually kill me for real this time.”

Jaebum, who’s been unceremoniously woken up from his nap by the frantic buzzing of the intercom, rather feels like killing him too.

“And what do you expect me to do about it? Shouldn’t you be going to Bambam or Mark or hell, go to Amber noona, she has a cat right?”

Jaehyung blinks. “Uh, you had one too? Back then? Lara or Korra or whatever—I figured you’d know what to do with him. Plus, Brian kinda likes y—ow.”

He looks down at his hand where the three parallel scratches are starting to bleed. Indignantly, he thrusts the kitten at Jaebum, who catches it just in time to prevent it from falling.

“Nora.” At Jaehyung’s look of confusion, he says, “My cat. Her name was Nora.”

“Cool, sure, whatever. Anyway, take care of him, call me if he changes back!”

Then he’s leaving, long legs eating up the distance between the couch and the door, flannel shirt flapping behind him like the cape of a masked crusader. Jaebum wants to stop him, but with an armful of kitten, he’s not quite sure how.

The beeping of the lock echoes around the living room. If he strains his ears, he can just about hear Jaehyung running down the hall and up the stairs back to his dorm. He looks down at the kitten—or, well, Younghyun.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me now.”

 

The first thing he does is to shut the balcony and bathroom door. Then, as with everything remotely disconcerting in his life, he calls Jinyoung.

“Did he say how?” The tinny voice crackles over background noise of chaos on set, making Younghyun jump. Jaebum shushes him, pets him until he calms down and stops bristling.

“No idea. He and Wonpil were reading something from a book they got from a store or something, and Younghyun just—disappears.”

At least, that’s what he managed to glean from Jaehyung’s rapid fire bilingual explanation earlier.

“Well, at least your repressed, pining ass will get to spend quality time with him for once. Have you fed him?”

Choosing to ignore Jinyoung’s other, much too knowing statement, Jaebum eyes Younghyun, who’s moved on to gnawing at the edge of his blanket and says, “Not yet.” 

“Well, if it’s really Younghyun hyung, he’ll be starving for sure.”

“Good point.” Years of training together have more than acquainted them with his big appetite. “I’ll head to the store.”

Hanging up, he gently detaches sharp teeth from cotton. “We don’t chew on things around here.”

The kitten stares at him, blue eyes round and huge, just on this side of plaintive. Jaebum’s not sure if he actually understood him. He sighs.

“Let’s go get you some food, shall we?”

It’s going to be a long three days.

 

It’s nearly summer but there’s still a chill in the air, so he bundles up in a hoodie, placing Younghyun on his chest before zipping it up. His body is trembling, heartbeat lightning quick.

“Don’t worry, it won’t take long,” he reassures him, petting him a little while waiting for the elevator to calm him down. It works, the rapid heartbeat thudding slower as the kitten snuggles closer.

The convenience store is just around their building. Jaebum greets the shift worker who’s there most afternoons, dumps the cans of cat food, a bag of litter, and a toy he picks up on a whim. It’s a bunch of weighted feathers dangling on a springy wand. Nora used to play with something like it for hours, he figures Younghyun would like it too.

“Got a new cat?” she asks as she scans them into the system.

“Something like that. Hey, when are you gonna take me up on that coffee, Hyemin?”

She laughs. It’s been their longstanding joke ever since the first time Jaebum tried to ask her out and bombed miserably. She's never let him live it down.

“When you make me an offer I can’t refuse.”

Younghyun chooses this moment to wake up from his doze and push his head out of his cocoon, mewing loudly. The girl squeals.

“Oh it’s cute!” She reaches out to scratch him, giggles as he nuzzles and licks her fingers. “Does it have a name?”

“You—Yoyo.” He taps his card on the terminal and takes the bags from her, the plastic rustling. “Thanks.”

“Bye Yoyo!”

Younghyun mewls back, making her squeal again. Jaebum catches the wince before it forms, pushes it down. The bells on the door tinkle when he slides it open.

Once safely outside, he glares down at his chest where Yonghyun is serenely licking his paws. Jaebum’s not sure, but he's looking pretty smug for a kitten.

“Flirt,” he accuses. Younghyun just purrs.

 

Back at the apartment, he dumps a handful of kibble into a bowl and places it on the kitchen floor next to a bowl of water. “Here. Don’t eat it all in one go.”

Leaving Younghyun to his own devices, he heads back to the couch and turns on his laptop, intent on getting some work done. He’s been neglecting his emails lately in favor of working on his mixtape, and he’ll pay for it now. So he dives in, alternating between replying and deleting until his eyes glazes over, and it’s not until Bambam, just returned from a day of shopping with Yugyeom, asks, “Why is there a cat here?” that he remembers Younghyun.

He looks down at the kitten who’s curled up next to his feet, sleeping soundly. “Jae hyung brought him over, it’s Younghyun.”

“Brian hyung!?”

Yugyeom’s screech startles the kitten awake, who twists and takes a flying leap right at Jaebum. Cursing, he intercepts him just before he smashes into his laptop, cradles him against his chest to calm him down.

“Yeah, they were reading a spell from a book—don’t ask,” he says. “I’m just glad you two aren’t dumb enough to pull something like this off.”

He ignores the offended exclamations from the youngest two but looks down when Younghyun butts his head against his chest, as though in protest.

“Face it, it was a stupid thing to do,” he tells him. Younghyun growls. 

“Whoa, Younghyun hyung can understand you?” Yugyeom says.

Before either man or cat can answer, Mark ambles out into the living room. “What’s all the commotion about?”

Jaebum gapes. “You were here all day?”

Mark nods, scratching at his stomach through his shirt. “Yeah I was in my room, why?”

Jaebum has about seven different responses to that, starting from _why didn’t you answer the door then_ to _it should have been you, Younghyun likes you better_. And he has half a mind to make him take custody of the kitten, leader privileges and all, but that’s when Younghyun mewls, batting distractingly at his chin with a paw.

“Nevermind,” Jaebum grumbles. He switches the subject. “It’s your turn to get dinner.”

“Yeah, was gonna ask what you wanted before I head out. Hey, is that a kitten? Youngjae’s barely been gone two days and you've already gotten a kitten?”

Said kitten in one arm and laptop under another, Jaebum just flips him off and stomps off to his room.

 

Despite all the practice he got with Nora when she was younger, fending off a kitten’s pleading, wide-eyed stare is harder than he remembers.

“No,” he says firmly, nudging Younghyun away from where he’s clawing at his ankles. “Stop, Younghyun.”

“He just wants some chicken, it won’t kill him,” Yugyeom, ever soft-hearted, observes.

Jaebum slides him a cutting glare. Younghyun is his, well, his charge for now, and he won’t have the rest of them backseat parenting, brotherhood be damned. Besides, he’s the one with experience with cats.

“It’s too oily for him.”

“Yeah, but he won’t be a cat for long right? It’ll be fine,” he says.

Before Jaebum can stop him, he’s dropping bits of his own chicken onto the floor. Younghyun gobbles it up in a flash, then lifts himself onto his hind legs and nuzzles against Yugyeom’s legs for more, mewing winningly. Jaebum feels a hot flash of—something, anger, most probably—slice through his gut.

“Fine. Feed him whatever you want. In fact, keep him.”

Appetite gone, Jaebum slides his chair back with a loud screech. Fuck cats, they’re more trouble than they’re worth anyway. And fuck Mark too, for getting fried chicken for dinner. Everyone knows it’s more of a supper food.

 

He’s still stewing when he hears the scrabbling outside his door. For a moment, he’s tempted to let Younghyun keep at it, but then remembers those wide blue eyes and sighs.

Opening the door, he looks down at where Younghyun is sitting demurely, looking as apologetic as a kitten could. “What do you want,” he grouses.

He bends down to pick him up when he starts clawing at the hem of his track pants. He doesn’t want those sharp kitten claws ripping them to shreds, after all, they’re his favorite pair. Said sharp claws are currently digging into his shirt as Younghyun clumsily scales up to his shoulder with Jaebum’s hand as support. When he’s at his desired position, he darts forward and licks his way from Jaebum’s jaw to his mouth, tongue sandpaper rough.

It's a testament of how gone Jaebum already is for him, because he can't help but think of the ticklish touches as tiny kitten kisses. They melt away his irritability almost instantly, although he makes sure to tell him, “Don’t think I’ll start giving you junk food now just because you’re acting all sweet with me.”

Younghyun just licks him again before nuzzling into the crook of his neck with a yawn.

He goes back to lie on his bed, settling Younghyun's warm weight on his chest. Purring, Younghyun lays his head down, blinking drowsily up at Jaebum and butting his head imperiously against Jaebum’s hand. Smiling, he runs it over the tiny head as commanded, digging his fingers into his scruff, listening to the sounds of contentment rumbling from the kitten.

“You’re so loud, Younghyun, I’m a light sleeper, you know.”

Ever contrary, Younghyun ignores him in favor of purring even louder. Jaebum falls asleep quicker than he has in recent memory.

 

He jolts awake to a long chain of notification pings. Grumbling, he reaches blindly for his phone, which is usually next to his pillow, but then feels the soft, heaving warmth in the crook of his neck. He freezes.

Twisting slowly, he sees Younghyun snoozing away, head in his tiny paws, and has to stifle the instinctual _aww_ that tries to gurgle from his sleep scratched throat. Grabbing his phone, he snaps a few pictures of the sleeping kitten and then taps open KaTalk to see what the emergency was.

_[JW852 sent a picture]_

_guys look!!!11!!1_

_is this or is this not the cutest thing u hav ever seen?!?!_

_[baaaaam sent a sticker]_

_[Kim_ _Browny sent a sticker]_

_[baaaaam sent a sticker]_

_hyung no fair you never let coco sleep in our bed!!_

_[333 sent a picture]_

_she’s jealous look_

Jaebum groans and starts typing, but his phone pings again.

_Awwwww look at the way hyung is holding onto Younghyun hyung_

_So protective, so loving_

_So cuteeee_

_I’m forwarding this to Wonpil brb_

_Park Jinyoung don’t you dare_

_Too late, already did_

Jaebum lets out a cry of frustration—softly, he doesn’t want to wake Younghyun—and gnashes his jaw as he violently types _you’re all dead to me_.

The replies come instantly. 

_aw dont b like this hyung_

_[JW852 sent a picture]_

_show kitty jackson sum luv 2_

Faced with a duckface selfie of Jackson with finger-drawn cat ears and whiskers, Jaebum concludes that the only viable response is to turn off his phone and go back to sleep.

 

“I’m heading to the studio after this,” he announces at breakfast.

Yugyeom and Bambam give him the most cursory of acknowledgements before turning back to their battle with the smoking pan, Younghyun circling their feet for a slice of bacon he absolutely should not be eating. Jinyoung barely looks up from his script. Jackson is somewhere, filming for a show, out with one of his many friends, who knows.

Nodding, Mark says over a mouthful of rice, “Yeah, sure, you can leave Younghyun with me. It’s been lonely in the dorm since Youngjae stole Coco when he moved out.”

Jaebum frowns. That wasn’t what he meant. “It’s okay, I’m taking him along with me—watch out Gyeom you nearly stepped on him!” Getting out of his chair, he picks the kitten up, ignoring his protests. “You’re coming with me.”

“Possessive much, hyung?” Jinyoung comments.

“He’ll just be a nuisance to Mark,” Jaebum replies, ignoring the quiet _no_ from Mark and ducking the swipe Younghyun aims at his face as he struggles. “And I have experience with cats, so.”

“Whatever you say,” is what he hears. He pretends not to see the knowing look Jinyoung trades with Mark. Then he thinks better of it and flips them off.

He picks up some treats for Younghyun on the way, taking a longer detour to another convenience store this time. It’s staffed by an _ahjussi_  who couldn’t care less about the kitten nestled in his jacket. Younghyun is clearly of the same opinion, alternating between playing with the drawstrings on his hood and batting at Jaebum’s neck to ask for scratches.

At the studio, Jaebum sets Younghyun down on the couch with a stern, “Stay here,” before ducking into the recording booth, where he spends the entire time watching the kitten out of the corner of his eye. He ends up taking twice as long to record the guide for it to turn out okay. The second he's done, he makes a beeline for Younghyun, who’s been mewling and scratching at the side of the couch in boredom.

The audio engineer he's working with raises an eyebrow at his haste. “New kitten?”

“Yeah,” he replies as he pries sharp claws from leather as gently as he can. Younghyun is staring up at him accusingly. “I know, I know, you’re bored, but I have to work, yeah? Who’s gonna buy your cat food otherwise?”

Younghyun hisses argumentatively at that, looking like the world’s most disgruntled kitten. It’s ridiculously adorable and Jaebum laughs. “We have to work out a system for this. One for yes, twice for no?”

“Mrrow.” “Okay, great. Wanna go see Jae hyung?” “Mmmrow.” “Alright let’s go.”

 

The band practice room is empty when Jaebum gets there, so he sets Younghyun down with a reminder to be careful of the wires. Pulling out his phone, he drops onto a beanbag in a corner of the room and sends a text to Wonpil. The beanbag is worn in and comfy, and Jaebum settles in more, absentmindedly noting that they should get something other than a couch for their practice room in the new building too.

He keeps a watchful eye on Younghyun but it’s unnecessary, because after a few minutes of bounding around and sniffing at the nooks and crannies between the haphazardly piled instruments, he makes his way back to Jaebum, clambering up the beanbag and onto Jaebum’s stomach where he curls up with a content purr.

“You like sleeping on me huh,” he comments, stroking the kitten. Younghyun meows back once and nuzzles closer, making Jaebum smile. “Well, I like it too,” he says, before hastily adding, “I mean, Nora used to do it all the time, like cats like to do. And you’re a cat.”

Younghyun peeks an eye open at him, looking amused.

Quietly, he says, “I’d like it if you did it when you’re not a cat too but you’re always busy avoiding me.”

At this, Younghyun raises his head to mew insistently at him, sharp canines on full display in his opened mouth. He looks ferocious.

“Whoa, the system, Younghyun, remember? I don't speak cat.”

The open jaw snaps shut, and then he gives Jaebum two indignant meows.

“No? No what, you’re not avoiding me?”

“Mmrow.”

“What do you call it then, when you always go off with Bambam or Mark or even Youngjae, whom you’re not even that close to anyway, whenever we have schedules together.”

He knows he sounds petulant (not to mention silly, because let’s face it, he’s sulking at a kitten) but he hates it, being always a step too late, barely able to catch a glimpse of Younghyun’s back as he runs off with everyone else but him. And it’s his fault, he knows, because back when they’d first met, he’d been aloof and cold, keeping his distance even when Younghyun would reach out and try to befriend him, turn down tentative invitations to do assessments together or hang out.

And all because he’d been insanely jealous of the new trainee with the honeyed voice the whole company was in a tizzy about even though he’d been a project trainee by then. By the time he got his head out of his ass (because Younghyun _was_ good, one of the best, in fact), Younghyun had stopped trying at all.

His reply cues another torrent of mewing, and that’s how Dowoon and Wonpil find them, Jaebum staring bemusedly at the tiny kitten standing on all fours on his chest as it yelled at him in cat.

“What’s up hyung we could hear you from outside,” Dowoon says.

Looking up, Jaebum gives them a wave, then picks Younghyun up to set him on the floor, expecting him to run straight to them. To his surprise, Younghyun turns around to start climbing back up Jaebum instead, claws digging through the thick fabric of his jeans into skin for leverage.

“Ow,” he says, picking him up again and cradling him against his chest. Younghyun snuggles into him immediately, tucking his head into the crook of his elbow.

“Aw, Jinyoungie was right, you two _are_ cute.”

There’s a click of a shutter, and then Wonpil is staring at his phone in satisfaction. Jaebum shudders to think of how many incriminating pictures their respective group members will have collected between them by the time this ends.

“Younghyun is the cute one, not me,” he tells them, smiling softly down at the kitten.

“Oh I think he’d disagree,” Dowoon says, long fingers coming to stroke through Younghyun’s soft fur. “Right hyung?”

Younghyun meows, just once. Jaebum can’t help but feel pleased.

 

Of course, that’s when Jaehyung barges in.

“Guys, I think I’ve got it! Oh hey Jaebum, I didn’t know you were here, but good timing.” He grins brightly, then continues, “Amber found this amulet that’s supposed to change him back.”

 _Change him back?_ Heart sinking, Jaebum pastes on a smile. “That’s great!”  

“What? From where? How do you know it’ll work?” Dowoon asks, taking the amulet to examine it.

“Dunno, it’s from a gypsy or something, but she promised me it will. Hopefully it does, and we’ll take Brian off your hands, Jaebum, thanks for taking care of him.”

He holds his arms out expectantly, and Jaebum reluctantly hands Younghyun over. It’s not without difficulty though, the kitten is holding on to him in a death grip, claws digging into his forearm. They leave long, bloody scratches when Jaehyung forcibly tugs him off.

Baffled, Jaehyung asks, “What’s the matter Bri, you don’t want to stay a cat forever, do you?”

Younghyun replies with a long string of plaintive mews, reaching up to bat at Jaehyung, claws out. The suddenness of the assaut makes Jaehyung drop him. Fortunately, Dowoon lunges forward just in time to catch the kitten before he falls onto the floor.

“What the hell Brian, what’s gotten your panties in a twist? Hold him still guys.”

Jaehyung still sounds annoyed as he lets Wonpil and Dowoon deal with the struggling, hissing kitten, readying himself to slip the amulet over his head. Jaebum quietly leaves before he does it.

 

Mark’s in the living room when he gets back to the dorm, watching his downloaded reruns of The Bachelor.

“Where’s Brian?” he asks when Jaebum drops onto the couch next to him after disinfecting the scratches on his arm.

“With Jae hyung.”

“I thought he gave him to you because they didn’t want Sungjin to find out?”

Someone’s in a chatty mood tonight. Can’t a guy watch TV in peace?

He sighs. “He’s not gonna.”

“What do you mean he’s not gonna? Who’s not gonna what?”

“I mean,” Jaebum replies, grinding his teeth in frustration at the game of Twenty Questions he’s never signed up for. “Sungjin’s not gonna find out about Younghyun being a cat because they’ve changed him back, okay? Christ.”

Not waiting for a reply, he stomps off into his room and slams the door, taking satisfaction in the way it rattles the frame and flings himself onto his bed. After a while, he twists to face the ceiling, taking in the silence of their near-empty dorm. When they first got the news that they were moving into a bigger place, he was happy, especially once they heard that they’re getting their own rooms. Now he’s starting to feel it’s much too big of a place.

Drawing the covers up to his chin, he turns onto his side and inadvertently sees the water bowl he left in the room for Younghyun. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots the cat hair Younghyun left on his pillow. Picking one up, he sighs. He misses the kitten already. He should get a cat again, maybe even get Nora back from his friend, if he can. Youngjae’s moved out anyway, so there’s really nothing stopping him. In fact, he’ll get three. That’ll show them.

 

He’s daydreaming about raising a litter of gray furred, blue eyed kittens when there’s a knock on his door. It’s probably Mark.

“What.”

“Can I come in?”

The voice is smooth and melodic and definitely not Mark.

He leaps towards his room door, taking a long few seconds to untangle the covers from his legs, then another few putting on an unaffected expression before opening the door.

“Younghyun, hi.” He takes in the man standing in front of him. He looks good, messy hair and all. It’s as gray as his fur had been. “You’re back.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it’s good to have you back.”

“Yeah. Sorry about your arm.”

“It’s nothing, I’ve had worse. Can barely feel it.”

It's not exactly true because it's still stinging from the wound wash, but Younghyun takes it at face value. Fiddling with the hem of his shirt, he nods once and continues, “I just wanted to thank you, for, you know, taking care of me.”

Jaebum shrugs. “Would have done it for anyone.”

Younghyun looks up at this, upturned eyes meeting Jaebum’s dead on. They’re vaguely cat-like. “Anyone?”

“Yeah, I mean, what are friends for, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Well, I’m glad it was you.” Jaebum is wondering if he’s imagining the disappointment in Younghyun’s voice when the other straightens.

“Just so you know, I wasn’t avoiding you.”

“Yeah, you’ve already—”

“I just, I never knew what to say to you so I didn’t seem like an idiot.”

“You’re not—”

He’s stopped by a soft press of lips against his, warm and fleeting. All of a sudden, he's reminded of the feel of sandpaper on his mouth. And then it’s gone, Younghyun rocking back onto his heels, looking ready to bolt. Jaebum shoots a hand out and grabs his wrist, just in case.

“I like you.”

Jaebum blinks, mouth still hanging open from a half formed sentence. He can’t have heard him correctly, but there’s no mistaking the flush that’s spreading from Younghyun's ears down to his neck. He thinks he must look the same, he feels overheated all of a sudden. He’s still trying to formulate a suitably suave response when Younghyun clears his throat and shifts.

"Well, I should probably g—"

Oh, fuck it.

“You too!” he blurts. “I mean, I like you too.”

With Younghyun’s answering grin cuter than he’s ever been as a kitten and making his heart pound in triple time, Jaebum has no choice but to lean in and kiss him again.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [(You Are) Pouring out over me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12849939) by [crayyyonn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayyyonn/pseuds/crayyyonn)




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